music to my ears
by linh cinder
Summary: "To: Lacy, who I'm pretty sure is made up B) Call me: 748-264-6093" Piper smirked in his direction. That sly dog. {liper rival pop star au}
1. call me

**notes:** some of u might've already seen this on tumblr, so long story short, i wrote this a while ago and wanted to share it with everybody! this will definitely have a continuation and the new chapters will be up asap!

a little about the au: piper's a pop star who's more of an acoustic guitar kind of chick and leo's another singer who's all about that bass lmao. hope u enjoy!

* * *

 **.1.**

call me ;)

* * *

She approached him cautiously, Lacy's whispered chants of " _DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!"_ humming in the back of her mind. Across the room, Valdez was talking to someone, face cool and calm as he crossed his arms over his chest, and her heart pounded in her ears. The closer Piper got to where he stood lazily propped against the wall, the brighter the stage lights seemed to become. But she pressed on, teeth gritted, and stomped in his direction. The person he was talking to suddenly turned away, and there was no turning back from then on.

As soon as he saw her, he snapped his fingers and he had that famous secretive smirk on his face. His amber eyes lit up under the lights when he looked at her, and then she was nervous, because she had no idea why he was looking at her like that, and even less of an idea why she was over there in the first place.

Leo pointed at her with gusto. "McLean, right? Piper McLean?"

Piper opened her mouth and was surprised to find it dry, and she quickly closed it again.

Leo seemed unfazed by her hesitation. "Hey, great show at Arcadia today. I saw it online. I especially liked that last song you did, the pop song. That was wicked cool."

He grinned at her again, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that he was probably expecting an answer.

"Uh..." she glanced from him to Lacy, who was standing across the floor and holding her hands over her heart as if the entire interaction was giving her a stroke. "Thanks."

There was that smirk again. He wouldn't take his eyes off of her, and that unsettled her - she could barely make eye contact. Someone with that much eye confidence clearly shouldn't be trusted.

"So, um." Her voice cracked on the first word, and she cringed. Great going, Piper. "Your performance - it was, um, great. I didn't know you did acoustic versions of your songs."

"Not often," he admitted, and he leaned against the wall, clearly at ease. "But yeah, I do. Sometimes."

"Well maybe they shouldn't be so rare. I'm sure your fans would love to hear them in your albums."

"Nah, not my kind of style." He said dismissively, waving away her suggestion. The way he said it made her smile falter. That tone, that laid-back demeanor _._ He might as well have said _Nah, acoustic songs are crap and lame and boring, and frankly, so are you._

With that happy thought, she started to frown.

In front of her, Leo was still smiling. "Hey, maybe you could sing more pop, huh? I'm sure your fans get bored of all that guitar. Change it up a little. Get a bass to drop."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did he just say her music was boring? Piper felt her face heat up in anger. "Fine, then. I'll release my pop song when you release an acoustic version of yours."

There was a glint in his eye, and he raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was surprise, or maybe it was shock that this boring girl with the acoustic guitar was trying to challenge him.

The corner of his mouth turned upward in a lopsided smirk. "Yeah, sure. I'll keep tabs, kay?"

He pushed himself off of the wall. And then she realized that he was bored with the conversation and was going to leave. Which was bad. Because she had totally forgotten what Lacy had sent her over here to do in the first place.

He tried to pass by to her left, but she grabbed his arm. There was that look of surprise again, but she was much too urgent to feel nervous.

"I totally forgot before, but - I have this friend and she really likes your music, and she wanted me to ask you to sign her album..." she trailed off and let go of his arm, turning to rummage through her purse. As she sorted through its contents, she thought about how he had had this smug grin when she said that Lacy liked his music. Which annoyed her. But she decided to ignore it and instead focused on not looking like an idiot as she searched and searched the depths of her purse for Lacy's goddamned CD.

Piper breathed a sigh of relief and pulled it out with a sigh of triumph, placing it into Leo's waiting hands. He inspected it like he hadn't seen it a million times before, and she was about to go diving into her bag for a sharpie when he miraculously pulled one from the inside of his suit, and her mouth was ajar.

Jesus Christ, he kept one on hand? How vain was _that?_ Was he so full of himself that he thought people would automatically want autographs from him? She had never looked at a writing utensil with more disgust.

But then again, it _had_ come in handy.

Leo uncapped the marker; the black tip hovered over the album, and he looked at her expectantly. "Who do I address it to?"

"Lacy. L-a-c-y." She watched him as he began to scribble something onto the CD. Piper was definitely not checking him out, but...she noticed how his dark curls shined under his hat, how snug his brown suit jacket was and how nicely it looked over his plain white v-neck. She noticed his kind-of skinny jeans, and how his boots were the same bronze as his jacket, and how the dragon tattoo that every girl fawned about was peeking out on his collarbone, not fully concealed by his shirt.

He looked up at her and grinned that smile again, the one that had every girl in a fifty mile radius turning to goo. He had one dimple, she noticed, and that was kind-of cool to look at. And she could count every speck of gold shining in his deep brown eyes.

He held out the CD to her. She took it, and she didn't realize how sweaty her palms were until they slicked against the plastic cover.

Leo gave her a little salute. "See you McLean."

"Yeah. Bye." She let him walk away this time, unperturbed. Piper stared at his back for a moment before she realized she was blushing, scowled, and then looked down at the album.

It read:

 _"To: Lacy, who I'm pretty sure is made up B) Call me: 748-264-6093"_

She smirked in his direction. That sly dog.


	2. things we do in the dark

**notes:** wooo 2nd part everybody! Thanks for sticking around! I think i know what i want to do with this story now so the story's gonna start to develop from here on out.

Note: i wrote the first part when i was 16 and everything after the first line break in real time. Blame 16 yr old me for any cringiness before the break lol

I've also developed a slightly new format so i hope u guys like it! Im really excited to try something new!

ALSO HAPPY BELATED BDAY JESLYN! I know i didnt mention a present but take this as a surprise! Tysm for ur support for this fic and i hope u like it (as much as i love u xoxo 3 3 3)

* * *

 _2 weeks ago._

* * *

There were two things Piper hated more than anything—one being walnuts, and the other being the famous popstar Leo Valdez.

She had a valid reason for hating walnuts—she was allergic to them, and whenever she even had the slightest encounter with one, her face would puff up, her esophagus would get inflamed, and then she couldn't breathe. It was pretty serious stuff, and to be fair, they tasted pretty gross, too, and they looked like they were deformed versions of pecans or something. But Leo Valdez? He was much, _much_ worse than walnuts. The only thing that he didn't have in common with them was that he didn't make her face swell like a freaking hot air balloon.

She had never met the guy. With all of her shows, venues, and tours year round, she never really had the time or opportunity to meet him. Sure, there was always a slim chance he would be one of the opening acts at one of her shows, but he was too popular. If she were to be honest, the two of them were on the same level of fame. Having him open for her would be the equivalent of Elvis Presley opening up for Michael Jackson. Such things didn't occur naturally, and Piper thought it was maybe for the best.

Why? As far as she knew, Valdez was a spoiled piece of crap. He was always in the tabloids for his various affairs and relationships with other singers and Hollywood starlets that were foolish enough to fall for his so-called charm. He had tons of money, lived in a huge house in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in LA, and wrote dumb pop songs about girls and cash and sex that really weren't Piper's forte. She was always annoyed by him, but Lacy, her best friend and self-proclaimed roadie, was head over heels. She had all of his posters, all of his albums, and a membership on almost every single "LEO V" fansite known to man—and it was infuriating, but Piper could deal. If only Lacy didn't belt out one of his songs every time they got on the road.

"AND I WAAAAAAANT YOUUUUUU..."

" _Lacy."_

"YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE, ON-LEEEEEEE ONE THAT I WA-A-ANT IN THE WHOOOOLE WIDE WO-O-ORLD…"

" _Eugh,"_ Piper groaned, pulling the pillow she had ducked her head under down to cover her eyes. They were on the road, heading back to Los Angeles after a long day in concert at a venue in Las Vegas. Frank, the driver and another good friend of hers, drove on unfazed with a pair of noise-cancelling earbuds tucked under his hat. Piper looked up and scowled, jealous. She'd definitely have to look into getting some of those when they got back to LA.

Lacy wistfully spun around in a wide circle, her flouncy, flowery skirt billowing before settling back down against her pale legs. She batted her lashes towards the ceiling and let out a dreamy sigh. "Oh, Piper—isn't Leo just _fab?"_

Piper put the pillow back in its proper place and sat up, crossing her legs under the table she was sitting at. "Do you want me to answer that honestly, or—"

Lacy curled her lip at her. "On second thought, don't." She spun around a couple more times as Piper chuckled. "But think about it, though—the two of us would be perfect together. Me and him, in LA, going to restaurants and the beach and concerts and parties and—"

"And crashing and burning, breaking up, being yesterday's new in the tabloids. And you crying all over the place while he moves on and writes a fake song about how 'heartbroken' he'll be over you," Piper finished, not missing a beat as she inspected her manicure to look impassive. "That's how they all go, Lace. He's redundant. It's better if you don't dream about him every night, because I'm sure he hasn't lost sleep over the girls he 'supposedly' loved."

"But come on, Piper! Have a little faith!" she threw up her arms in an attempt at conviction, but Piper only pursed her lips and turned her attention back to her perfectly filed nails. "It'll work out! I'll be, like, the first girl to actually make it through to him! And then the two of us will live happily ever after in LA, the end. Can't you get past your opinion of him for one second here?"

"I could if he proved me wrong." Piper barked in reply, because honestly, Leo changing his problematic ways was the most hopeless thing she'd heard all year.

Guys like him didn't change, never would. Lacy really needed to understand that.

* * *

 _2 days ago_

* * *

"Oh my God," breathed Lacy, her eyes blown wide. "Oh my _God!"_

She gave a huge grin, then squealed.

Piper slouched in her seat; she was starting to feel more embarrassed than that time she'd had a wardrobe malfunction at one of her Dad's awards shows. She risked a mean glance at the unassuming CD sitting on Lacy's lap. It was insane to think that something so small could cause such a world of trouble.

"Are you gonna call him? Wait, wait—are you going to _release the song?_ Holy _crap_ Piper! You _so_ have to! And then he'll drop one of his own, and then you'll drop _another one_ —" Lacy rambled on more ideas, most of which were peppered with shrieks and daydreams that Piper couldn't bother to keep track of.

Piper kept her eyes on the road. At the moment, she had two options that would guarantee her getting out of this conversation:

Option number one. She could roll out of the car into oncoming traffic and hope to narrowly miss certain death.

Option number two. If that didn't work out, she could always drive directly into the nearest power line and/or tree, and hopefully put them _both_ out of their misery.

Now, don't get her wrong. If this were any other person, anyone at all, Piper would just ignore their excitement, and instead focus on getting the two of them home safe and sound. But this was _Lacy._

 _Lacy,_ the girl who Piper _still_ buys Hershey's kisses for every time she sees them in the store because Piper stole one of hers in the fifth grade.

 _Lacy,_ the friend who _still_ only buys dresses in variations of pink, white, black, and red, because she'd read in a magazine when they were fifteen that those were 'foolproof colors'.

 _Lacy,_ the person who'd drunkenly kissed a guy Piper liked at a party, who'd told her everything as soon as it happened, and who'd apologized for the incident for two weeks straight with gifts and cards and long 'forgive me' texts. Lacy was the kind of girl who still brought it up from time to time, just so she could apologize _again._

This was _Lacy._ And Piper loved her.

But Lacy never, _ever_ learned to let things go.

"Tell me again..." Lacy spoke up, pulling Piper from her reverie. When Piper risked a quick glance to her right, she _knew_ she was in for it. Now that Lacy had finished her tangent and calmed down, her expression was downright gleeful. But there was an edge to it that Piper had seen way too many times, a dangerous glint to her eyes that was pronounced in the quirk of her hot pink lips, the set of her dark blond brows, and the way she looked at Piper as if she was the last gazelle on earth, and Lacy was the hungriest lion.

"Tell me again," Lacy restarted, lips curling in pleasure as she realized that Piper's attention was fully hers, " _exactly_ how he looked at you. What was the word you used again? "

Piper slid down a little further in her seat, cursing any name she could think of as her face began to heat up. She was starting to regret telling Lacy each and every detail of the night, from the way he smiled, to the sharpie he'd seemingly pulled out of thin air. It wasn't like she'd _memorized_ the whole thing. Valdez was just...interesting. A little strange. Someone whose presence would be hard to forget.

Lacy tapped at her chin like the evil, horrible best friend she was, her smirk stretching wider by the minute. To make matters worse, the green light that Piper was steadily approaching made the split-decision to turn yellow, and there was nothing she could do as the beige minivan in front of her chickened out and didn't try to make the light, letting it turn red.

"I said he was...mysterious." she mumbled in defeat, not sure if Lacy could hear her words. She looked out of the driver's seat window, trying to hide what was probably turning out to be a deep, red blush.

"That's not how he looked at you, though." Lacy sing-songed, wagging her finger at Piper with a smug smile on her face. "You said he looked _amused._ And everybody knows that if a guy looks at you in amusement, it means he thinks you're _super_ cute."

"Yeah, everybody being _Seventeen Magazine,"_ Piper grumbled, hitting the gas as soon as the light flickered green.

Lacy tutted from the passenger seat.

"Piper, you've got to trust me. He was _totally_ interested in you. In fact, I think you should call him, and—"

"Absolutely _not."_ Piper scowled, glad to know that her encounter with Leo hadn't stopped her from giving _that_ reaction. A second light ahead was already red, and Piper hit the brakes. The car jerked to a stop as she threw her hands up in frustration. "Lace, _please._ I have no business calling him, okay? I'll let him live his life, you let me live mine, and then we can all live happily ever after, no 'whirlwind romance' required."

"But he gave you his number!" Lacy whined, waving the wretched, signed CD around in the air for all the world to see. The light turned green. Piper blindly reached over and tried to slap it out of her hands. "If what I said before meant nothing to you, then this _has_ to. He _wants_ you to call him!"

The scowl was still on Piper's face, a sour taste in her mouth. Meeting Leo didn't change her opinion of him. He was still cocky—cocky enough to comment negatively on her style of music, to challenge her to sink down to his level and change her genre to something that _he_ was comfortable with. He was flashy—a statement supported by the million dollar shades he had tucked into his shirt, the tailored clothing on his back, the dragon on his collarbone that she knew was the handiwork of LA's best and most expensive tattoo artist. He was cruel, something she swore she had seen in his eyes—he was not amused with her. He was amused _at_ her. Leo thought she was a joke, the laughter in his gaze when he'd spoken to her and the hurt she still felt even now proving every inch of her suspicion.

She hit the gas, gaze forward, mind resolute.

"We don't always get what we want."

* * *

The dial tone filled her ears.

Piper glanced through the crack in the doorway to peer at Lacy, who was thankfully still nodding off in the middle of Casablanca.

Relieved, she took a breath. Let it go. Brought the phone into the light, and started to dial the numbers, a weight much heavier than her cell phone resting in her other hand.

He picked up on the second ring.

" _If this is a fan…"_ he started, tone obviously exhausted and wary; Piper nearly dropped her phone in surprise. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as she fumbled with it in the darkness, fighting to keep it off the ground.

A heavy sigh filled the other line.

" _Look, I get it, I'm awesome, I know. But I've had a really long day today, so...if you don't identify yourself in the next thirty seconds, I'll have no choice but to—"_

"Ugh, don't flatter yourself," she interjected, almost by reflex. The other line went deadly silent. Piper's brain finally caught up to her mouth, and she stopped, realized what she said, and slapped a hand over her mouth.

" _Okay…"_ he said slowly before Piper could scramble up a good enough apology in response. " _...so it's not a fan, then. Who is this?"_

"It's—I'm—" she cleared her throat and tried to calm her heart rate, trying her best to regain her composure. "This is, um. McLean, remember? Piper McLean—"

"Oh! Hey! What's up, McLean?" His disposition changed just from the sound of her name. All traces of tiredness and annoyance disappeared from his voice, and every hint of negativity she'd heard at the start of the call was replaced with something else— _amusement,_ she thought, and a frown began to tug at her lips.

Piper backtracked a bit and realized what he'd asked. "Nothing much," she said plainly, eyes trailing back to the image of a drowsy Lacy slumping over on the king-sized bed. "Do you always start calls by stating how awesome you are?"

There was a pause on his end, one that made her assume that he was taking time to remember. " _I do_ not, _thank you very much. Do you always use an insult as the first line?"_

"Not usually,"she smirked, moving to sit down on a nearby stool that was further back into the closet. "You're the exception."

" _How touching."_ said Leo, voice dry. She could picture him with that trademark smirk on his face, smiling widely on the other line. " _I doubt you called just to insult me, though."_

"You're not wrong." she admitted, but she wasn't so sure. Why _had_ she called him? Lacy's words from a couple days ago wouldn't stop replaying in her mind.

 _He_ wants _you to call him._

Piper didn't know what to say. Now, here, listening to Valdez's voice on the other side of the city, she _still_ didn't know what to say, and now was the exact time for her to speak up. What did she want to do? What did she want from this? What did she want from _him?_

Like the intelligent person she was, Piper blurted the first thing that came to mind.

Uh. "—My friend Lacy is real."

There was another long pause where Piper's conscience responded with a heartfelt _what the hell,_ and all she could do was shrug back.

 _Clever,_ her thoughts drawled before she mentally smacked herself upside the head.

" _Uh,"_ Leo said eloquently, sounding just as confused as she was at the moment. " _Who's Lacy?"_

"She's my friend,"she rushed out, face hot. Her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls. "Lacy's the one who asked for your signature on the CD, remember?" Piper looked down at the object in question in her hand, and scoffed at the writing on the cover. "That's how I got your number. Not that I ever wanted it."

Despite her slight comment, Leo started to chuckle on the other line. There was a shuffling noise, like he was moving around, but the sound settled again quickly after. " _My bad, I didn't mean to be disrespectful to your friend. I guess I owe her one, huh?"_

Owe her one? The uncharacteristic sincerity of his tone made Piper's brows shoot up in surprise.

" _I might have to tweak my schedule a little, but how about dinner tomorrow night?"_ he proposed. " _I'll bring a new CD, apologize in person, and we'll get to know each other a little better. The whole night's on me, promise."_

Piper didn't know what to say, wasn't sure what to do. Part of her knew that Lacy would go _nuts_ when she broke the news, even though her friend had spent the last few days avoiding the use of Valdez's name for Piper's sake, instead settling for pointed looks and leaving her CD around the house in plain sight.

On the other hand though, Piper was skeptical. She wasn't entirely sure what he was getting at. Valdez had had a _lot_ of flings. If he wasn't on TV for a relationship announcement, then he was in the tabloids for a break up. He was a player, and she didn't want Lacy to be played. Piper cleared her throat and squared her shoulders, finally ready with an answer.

"What time should we be ready?"

" _We? This is for_ Lacy," he laughed, and Piper's face heat up, a protest on her lips. "— _but I mean, if you're so desperate to see me, I wouldn't mind if you tagged along, too."_

"Screw you." she snapped. "I'll be there. Where and when?"

" _That's TBD. I'll text you the details?"_

"I'd rather have you delete my number, but fine. Text me around eight."

" _Increíble. Sleep tight, Princess. Thanks for the call."_

"Whatever," she grumbled, sitting back against the wall. Staring at the roof and picking at a loose thread in her satin shirt to try and figure out how she got herself into this mess. "And don't call me _princess."_ She wrinkled her nose.

" _Okay,_ princesa," Leo crooned, tone amused as she groaned.

"Ugh, _stop."_

" _Sure thing,"_ he said. " _Sure thing."_

* * *

 **notes:** The chapter's called "things we do in the dark" because all the scenes take place during the early evening/nighttime. I like being clever lol

Imma have chap 3 out asap, i'm already working on it. Pls leave a review bc they keep me going yall. Thanks for reading!


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